Machine for cutting leather into counters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABERDEEN KEITH, OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING LEATHER INTO COUNTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 44,318, dated September 20, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

' 'Be it known that I, ABERDEEN KEITH, a

resident of North Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful or Improved Machine for Cutting Leather into Counters for Boots or Shoes; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described iu the following specification, and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l denotes a top view, Fig. 2 a front elevation, and Fig. 3 an end elevation, of such machine.

In the drawings, A denotes the frame for supporting the main operative parts. Within the said frame are three shafts, B C D, which .are disposed with respect to each other as seen in Fig. 2. Two of the said shafts-viz., C and D-are outof parallelism with one another and with the third shaft, B, and carry or have fixed on their adjacent ends two tapering feedrollers, E F, there being one of such rollers to each of the said shafts C D. The three shafts are connected by a train of gears, G H I, there being one of such gears to each of the shafts, the same being in order that rotary motion may be transmitted from the driving-shaft B to each of the other shafts whenever the shaft B may be put in revolution.

The lower shaft not only has one of its journals supported in a bearing made in the part a of the frame, but has the other journal supported in a bearing or post or standard, K, which is separated from the frame A, and at its lower end is sustained on and jointed to the inferior arm of a lever, L, which is arranged underneath the frame, and when the machine is in operation is to have a weight suspended from its superior arm, the object of such weight, lever, and standard being to force the lower feed-roller toward the upper feedroller, and allow the former to move or be moved away from the latter in order to accommodate the rollers to the leather to be reduced to counters, as such lea-ther may vary in thickness.

In advance of the bite of the two feed-rollers there is a splitting-knife, M, one edge of which is supported within a groove, b, madein the stationary bracket or rail N. The opposite edge of the knife is similarly sustained in a bracket, O, projecting from the movable standard K, the whole being in such manner that any vertical movement of such standard and the lower feed-roller, whether such movement be upward or downward, shall cause the knife to be moved with the bracket 0, and so as to vary the declination of the cutting-edge of the knife. The said cutting-edge of the knife is arranged diagonally with respect t0 the bite of the rollers, in order that While cutting the strip of leather in order to separate a counter therefrom it may make such cut at an inclination with the opposite dat surface ofthe leather in manner as shown at c d c d in Fig. 4, which represents an edge view of a strip of leather and the lines of cuts for the counter It S 'l Il.

In consequence of the rollers being tapering they will cause each eutthrough the leather to be made on a curve, which will impart to each counter the form represented in Fig. 5, f

the transverse section of such counter being a parallelograin, as shown in Fig. 4.

In order to guide the leather properly between the rollers there may be a table or platform arranged aside of them, and having a feed-board capable of being turned on acenter, the radius of the circle of motion of such board corresponding with that of the curve of the knife-cut, which will be caused by the action of the feed-rollers. Such feed-board may be provided with a ledge for the edge of the piece of leather to rest against, and furthermore, there may be a stationary ledge or gage for the end of the strip to abut against, the said ledge being fixed on the top of the standard K. I mention the said table, feed-board, ledge, and gage simply as auxiliary to my invention.

In operating with this machine the strip of leather to be reduced to counters is to be presented between and to the feed-rollers at such part of the strip as it may be desirable to cut through it, such feed rollers being supposed to be in revolution in directions which will cause them to seize on the leather and force it against the cutting edge ofthe knife. As the thickness of the leather may increase more or less, so will thc lower feed-roller be pressed away from the upper one and at the same time will move downward one edge of the knife, so as to impart a greater declination to the cuttin g-edge of such knife. As the thickness of the leather may decrease the lower feed-roller s will rise, the knife also being raised at one and the same edge. Thus it will be seen that the cuttin g-ed ge of the knife will always bein the substantially as and for the purpose described,

the declination of the knife in accordance with the variation of the distance between the feedrollers, such mechanism, as explained, being the movable standard, its weighted lever, and knife-supporting bracket, the Whole being oonnected with the lower feed-roller shaft, as set forth.

ABERDEEN KEITH.

Vitnesses:

R. H. EDDY, F. P. HALE, Jr. 

